1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a process for recycling used-up dry cells, especially manganese dry cells, and a process for producing soft ferrite by making use of such used-up dry cells.
2. Background Art
With recent reductions in the size and weight of electrical appliances and a current wide distribution of portable types, there is an increase in the quantitative proportion of dry cells used. Most of dry cells used as primary cells are of manganese and alkali-manganese types, and are now often discarded with domestic waste after use. In some cases, these used-up dry cells are incinerated as by municipal corporations together with domestic waste. Alternatively, they are collected in the form of garbage, and thereafter disposed by collectors, etc.
For the disposal of the thus collected used-up dry cells, various proposals have been made from the recent viewpoint of preservation of the environment, a saving of resources and reductions in the volume of waste. For instance, there are processes for classifying or dismantling them or processes for separating valuable materials from them, as set forth in JP-A 60-136174, JP-A 61-488, JP-A-61-78484, JP-A 61-97085, JP-A 61-18182, JP-A 61-23498, JP-A 62-145658, JP-A 62-286584, JP-A 4-65063, JP-B 4-22975, JP-B 3-31116, JP-B 63-2676, JP-B 3-6208, JP-B 3-48624, JP-B 2-47059, JP-B 63-25830, JP-B 52-7813, JP-A 50-1094, JP-A 61-11191, JP-A 60-156594, JP-A 60-211023, etc.
However, although all these publications suggest that the material obtained from used-up dry cells like manganese dry cells may be recycled as the raw material for preparing magnetic materials such as manganese dioxide or ferrites, they make no illustrative reference to the obtaining of materials such as ferrites. This is because the prior process cost much due to consumption of much energy; that is, their low cost-effectiveness hinders the progress of recycling and collecting techniques. Thus, current rates of recovering and recycling used-up dry cells remains still very low.
Under such situations, it is expected that if material of high value added can be obtained from used-up dry cells, the rate of recovering them will then increase spontaneously. This is also preferable in view of preservation of the environment, a saving of resources, and reductions in the volume of waste. Thus, there is a strong demand for the effective recycling of used-up dry cells.